Kalafe — At least 12 Somali traditional elders have been arrested by Ethiopian troops in Godey town in the region of Somalia in eastern Ethiopia, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Thursday.

Reports from Kalafe town in the region say that the Ethiopian troops detained at least 12 traditional elders from Hiran region in central Somalia after the Ethiopian troops accused the elders that their children were fighting against the Ethiopian troops in the region.

Sources say that some of the traditional elders were captured as they were in their houses in the region while the others were captured as they were continuing peace efforts in the region and the real aim of the traditional elders' arrest is yet unclear.

Locals said that the Ethiopian troops detained the elders in unknown military prisons in Ethiopia and asking queries in over there.

The detention of the Somali traditional elders comes as more Somali elders who went there for mediating rival clan militias of Somalia in the region were recently released from a jail near Musthail town in the Somali region in eastern Ethiopia.